Tokyo | Albertan Kelsey Mitchell won the gold medal in cycling last night at the Izu Velodrome.

“It’s amazing, it’s amazing,” Mitchell said after the win. I suffer from many feelings. Just thinking to thank my family, friends, colleagues and the cycling crew in Canada who made this moment possible. Everyone pushed me and the hard work paid off. I am very grateful. “

Facing Ukrainian Olina Starikova in the best of three finals, Mitchell won two races to take Canada’s seventh gold in Tokyo and 24th.^NS In total. The bronze was the work of Lee Wai Sze of Hong Kong.

She is the second gold medal in Canadian track history after Laurie Ann Munzer, also in sprint, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, and the third medal in all events.

Mitchell maintained an average speed of 66.019 km / h on the 200-meter track and outperformed Starikova by 0.061 s and 0.064 s. In the semi-finals, the 27-year-old defeated Germany’s Emma Haines in three races to advance to the final.

After winning the semi-finals, the Canadian won a medal, but she was aiming to get on the podium.

“There was a medal already in the bag, but my goal was first place and I had to keep that state of mind. In the final, I wanted to win twice.”

amazing rise

His ascent is wonderful. When I spotted Mitchell at RBC camp while playing soccer, she struggled to get on her bike when she first started playing. Hugo Barrett’s girlfriend, who gave him a warm hug after his win, started cycling full time in December 2017, but it wasn’t long before she sparkled by setting a world single-speed record at the Pan American Championships in 2019.

Defeated by Mitchell in the semifinals, Lauriane Genest finished eighth. She had won the bronze medal in the Kirin two days earlier.